As the Premier League comes to a close, the Championship is in its penultimate round of competition, close to completing the regular season of the season. Leicester City broke through early to become the first team to be confirmed to be in the Premier League, and it took only one season to return to the Premier League after relegation. Leeds United and Ipswich are battling it out for a direct promotion spot in the Premier League, while three teams are battling it out for two promotion play-offs.
This season's Championship has been a situation where Leicester City have led alone, leading the second place by more than 10 points at most. However, in the last two months, Leicester City suddenly fell sharply, losing five of their 10 games and losing the top spot at one point. However, the recent two consecutive wins, coupled with relying on the advantages established in the early stage, Leicester City were the first to confirm promotion, and after a season's absence, they returned to the Premier League.
Leicester City are one of seven members of the Premier League title, and their triumph eight years ago has been hailed as a fairytale dream, and it is the most inspirational story in the Premier League. You must know that at that time, the traditional giants Liverpool were still working hard for their first Premier League title, and Leicester City, a team in the middle and lower reaches, won the championship earlier than the giants.
Leicester City has experienced a downturn, but it can also overtake in advance, on the one hand, because of their own efforts, on the other hand, because of the poor opponents, several teams that rushed to overtake seem to not want to be promoted to the Premier League at the end of the season, and they are courteous to each other. Leicester City has won 2 in the last 4 rounds, Leeds United has won 1 in the last 5 rounds, Ipswich has won 0 in the last 4 rounds, and the three teams have won only 3 of their last 13 games. Unexpectedly, the Premier League often happens to "let four", and the Championship will also "let the super".
In the regular stage of the Championship, there are a total of 24 teams with a total of 46 matches, and the top two teams directly qualify for the Premier League, and the four teams ranked third to sixth need to go through two single-legged knockout rounds to determine the final Premier League qualification.
Currently, Leicester City are top of the table with 94 points from 44 games, Leeds United with 90 points from 45 games and Ipswich Town with 90 points from 44 games. As a result, Leicester City have already secured the top two ahead of schedule and secured a place in the Premier League next season. Leeds United and Ipswich Town are battling it out for the last place in the Premier League, and both teams have a lot of stories to tell in Europe.
Ipswich Town won the UEFA Cup 33 years ago by beating AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie 5-4 on aggregate, with the final being played over two legs on a home-and-away basis. The manager at that time was Sir Bobby Robson, who had left everyone, and started the road to becoming a generation of England coaches from the League Cup championship.
Leeds United finished runners-up in the Champions League and the European Cup Winners' Cup in Europe, losing to Bayern Munich and AC Milan in the final. More than 20 years ago, Leeds United once reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, which amazed the outside world, leaving a reputation as the "Young Guard", and emerging outstanding young talents such as Robbie Keane, Woodgate, Alan Smith and Colwill.
In addition to the two places that will be promoted directly to the Premier League, four teams will participate in the play-offs, Leeds United and Ipswich Town lose, as well as Southampton, who have already confirmed their participation, while Norwich, West Brom and Hull City are only three points separating each other, with two play-off places decided in the final round.
Interestingly, United have also influenced the Championship race. The current manager of Ipswich is McKenna, a 38-year-old who was once an assistant to Manchester United and was promoted by Jose Mourinho to play 24 games, then 168 for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and finally three for Michael Carrick and three for Rangnick. After leaving Manchester United, McKenna took over as head coach of Ipswich Town, who converted the team from League One to Championship in his first year, and is now expected to be promoted to two levels in two years with his former club Manchester United in the Premier League.
Southampton is a pity, losing all of their last three games and completely losing the opportunity to overtake directly. Recall that earlier, the team's football director Wilcox, who was successfully "poached" by Manchester United, will serve as technical director, and it is precisely at this time that Southampton is in a difficult situation to win. Therefore, the team is quite angry, believing that Manchester United's takeaway of important personnel at the critical moment of the overtake is an influencing factor in the poor results in the final stage, and is demanding some compensation from Manchester United.